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Sl^EECH 



HON. JOHN COCHRAN ^' 




THE UNION x\ND THE CONSTITUTION. 



DELITEKED IN THE nOQSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, DECEMBER 20, 1S59. 

I flo not know, ^\r. Clerk, whether it is in my power to submit anything to tliis House, 
in addition to what lias been said, that can influence its opinions or control its judgment 
on the grave ami important questions that are before it. K'or is it my intention to speak 
at any great lengtii on llie themes that have been propounded here for the consideration 
of tlie count)-y. I deem, however, tliat wliat has been suggested merits our gi'ave and 
consideiate attention — not, sir, in the spirit of an idle declamation tliat may excite and 
agitate while it does not decide; nor yet, sir, in any rhetorical sense, but only with a just 
appreciation of truth, and a serious intent to examine, scrutinize, and argue the questions 
that are l)efore us. 

Sir, it has been asserted that we are in the midst of a crisis; and the evidence has been 
adduced here, day upon day for these many days, and has gone througliout the country, 
proving to its every f^enst; and to its every fear, that, indeed, a crisis is upon us. Indeed, 
I may say, sir — and I say it witl\ all seriousness and earnestness — tliat a series of convul- 
sions have visited and are visiting the Republic. At one time it is "The Impending 
Crisis of the South — How to Meet it." At anotlier time it is an armed and warlike inva- 
sion, perceptible to the general sense, visiting and invading the soil of a neighboring 
.State. Arrd, now, the whole South, inflamed by these direful events, and exasperated to 
'madness, simultaneously aiise and demand that there be a stay of action, and that they 
who aspire to patriotism bend themselves to the ♦ask of lesisting the storm. 

Sir, as an humble lU'presentalive of a constituency that has always stood by the Union 
and the guarantees of tlie Constitution, I come forward this day and declare that, with 
those constituents by my side, where danger is, there I will be; and that, whenever the 
flag of rebellion or sei'vile insurreetion is elevated, we conservative men of the North 
will be there to resist and suppress it. We will be there as dwellers in no one locality, 
as inhabitants of no one State; but as the proud citizens of the gi'eatest Republic tho 
world has ever seen. We will advance throughout its territory in every direction for 
tlie sup[iression of rebellion, and to proclaim safety and establish equity for the people. 

Sir, we are on the eve of important events. 1 am no alarmist. I have no belief in the 
disruption of this Union. Tlie blood that has been shed, and the efi'orts that have been 
made for it, are all too valuable thus to be dissipated and dispersed in a frozen air. The 
Union will continue, progress, and culminate to its destined glory. But yet, none the less 
are we on the eve of important events. They ai-e rife al)0ut us. They load the atmos- 
pliere. They are declared in everj' newspa|)er paragraph. They are exhibited in every 
cowutennnce, and heard in every speech. It is idle for gentlemen here on this occasion to 
cry "peace," while peace is a delusion, or to evade the true question which the country 
has presented to us, and which that countr\' wills that we determine. 

I sympathize, sir, deeply symphathize with our friends at the South, who now are in 
fearful trepidation of the'incendiary's torch, and of the assassin's knife, and who tremble 
as upon the volcano of servile insurrection. I sympathize with those emotions of kindred 
affection wliich press the father to the bosom of his wife, clasp the mother with the 
daughter, and brother and sister together; and I censure and reprobate that which has 
occurred and is occurring all over the North, endangering the peace of the Union, and 
teaching rebellion to the Constitution. But, sir, while I sympathize with these emotions, 
there are others of a more pleasant nature which engage my whole heart, and which, as 
I scrutinize the horizon of the North, aspire for utterance at this fearful hour. I see there 
myriads upon myriads .of sober, earnest, and fearless men gathering in their strength to 
assert the dignity of the Constitution, and to maintain the integrity of the Union. It is 
of no avail for gentlemen upon this floor to deny their force, or to endeavor to invalidate 
their effect. What, I am asked here, is the use, what the purpose, and above all what 
the efKcacv of Union tneetingsf Sir. permit me to demand in return, what is the use of 
aggregated and associate.! action! Where is the use of thought, and what the propriety 
of its enunciation, if there be no propriety, no use in these Union meetings? Do gentle- 
men discover virtue only in our ballots? " Do they ask only for that legal determination 
and decision of questions which the ballot-box furnishes? Why, sir, these meetings but 
prepare the people for that very act of decision ; they are but the preliminaries of the 
Hnal decree. Whoever, therefore, may conspicuously embark in and characterize with 
their names the Union meetings of the North, eloquent as rtay be the speaker. ai?j4 patri- 
otic the sentiments addressed'' to them, nothing is of moment saTe thdt tlife xa&st^ -wBb 



compose them are the true children of the Republic, and that tho^isancls npon thousands 
of those wlio hitiierto have sui?taiiied the constitution and suppoiied the Uniou, are yet 
awake to their importance, nor will ]>ermit detriment to either wliile life coiitinu-s and 
honor survives. 

Mr. Clerk, thei'e have been many fcrave and important questions discussed recently 
upon this floor, some of whicli have been pertinent and soiiie foreign to the occasion. 
Many of them have beeu loaded with grave complaints, in various quarters, of the politi- 
cal direction of the times observed in sections, localities, and Stale.s, and arguments have 
been adduced upon this floor, and interrogatories heard and answered in the fierce con- 
flicts of local grievances, and the congressional settlement of the disputes of a warm po- 
litical canvass. These, however diversified, and always interesting, at lea.^t to their im- 
mediate parties, have produced on my mind but the one conviction — that the Union is in 
no danger. Sir, such feelings are but the efTervcscence of local excitemenl, .the irritation of 
personal grief. Let theni"alone, sir. The more deeply engrossed by them are the sec- 
tions, the better established and the more strong will be the Union. Itisbut the anneal- 
ing process, which makes the more ductile the interests and tractaWe the opinions of 
parts to the general welfare of the whole. 

But among these escapades there was one of more significance than others, and to me, 
I confess, matter of painful importance. I refer to the assured action and the peremptory 
exclamation of the distinguished gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. ConwiN.j Wlien I entered 
these doors, I supposed that on the one side and the other of the House were arrayed the 
two large parties into which the politics of the country are divided, and over one of 
which, I was under the impression, was installed as its recognized and admired leader an 
honorable Senator from my own State — one upon whose shoulders had been imposed the 
whole burden of the political contest which recently transpired within our State borders. 
Must I confess it, sir? 1 was not prepared, at the moment, at least, for the sad catastrophe 
which awaited him at the hands of the honorable gentleman I have referred to. 

He announced to us that he was the embodiment of the great Republican party, and as 
the announcement was made, methought I saw the unhappy fall of the great Senator who 
formerly had controlled Republican destinies, and who, .even then, impressed his opinions 
npon the party creed — 

" From morn to noon lie fell, from noon to dewy eve, 
A summer's day " — 
while far above the majestic ruin, stretching its scaly folds full many a rood along, [laugh- 
ter,] there arose the magnificent and colossal pro])ortions of tlie gentleman from Ohio. 
[Renewed laughter.] Tliere he stood ; to the one of his colossal legs clung, as I thought, 
the constitutional friends of the fugitive slave law ; about the other were to be seen 
gathering the friends of a high protective tarilf, wliile underneath peeped about, in dire 
dismay, the great forsaken multitude, who saw neither in fugitive slave law, nor yet in 
higii protective tarifl", the representation of their jirinciples. Constei'nation sat in silence, 
brooding over the melancholy throng : that old party ; tliat new leader; that ruin. In- 
deed, sir, it was, to my devotional mind, l)ut anotlier illustration of the scriptural truth, 
that pouring new wine into old bottles is destructive to the \yhole coiicern. [Laughter.] 
I would now inquire, under )>erniission, sir, whether, installed, instituted, and established 
in his high office, this gentle marshal, with baton in hand, is recognized by that great and 
formidal)le party as its leader? I have heard suspicions that it is not so ; that some have 
even doubled his infallibility. I have seen occasional signs of open mutiny ; and lam 
quite sure that, if the discipline which we perceive to have ])revailed so long on that side 
of the House is still to be asserted, the mutineers will be biought in open House to a 
drumhead court martial, and strung up at the ta]i of the drum. 

My friends of the other side, no doubt, recognize the authority of many of the public 
prints that are issued daily in the State of New York, and especially of those which 
emanate from the city of New York. Upon' an editorial tripod seated there is a Republi- 
can Pythoness, inflated with Republican inspiration, and redolent of its principles. l>o 
gentlemen doubt the Sybil of the Evening Post? t!ic oracular integrity of her principles, 
or the truth of her oi'acles? Sir, t know her divine authority among them and I would 
ask the House to listen, for a moment, to the oracular chant that hasproc.-eded tVom her 
shrine, an<l to aiiSwer whether this new leader of a party is, in fact, recognized as such by 
those whom he asjiires to command. 

Says tliis print, when animadverting upon one of the honorable gentleman's public 
efforts in New York : 

" Even Coitwix, who is perhaps the most crotchety [that is its opinion] as well as the most popular 
pliatis mine albo] of old Whiz Kepulilicans, failed to susrsrest his tariff specific. Ihougrh he connumad lui 
inordiniitr time, ill giriiir/ hi-s iinr/ifor.t it 'needless leriure on the duty of o'leyiug the law of the Unid, 
and recotjiii-inij thiir foii.stiUUioiml ol'liijiition^. All the unriv.iied resources of this moat eloquent and 
cntertainincr orator were needed to (/nniish the iloce he so gravely administered ; and ihe fact that for two 
hours he managed lo renlrain ihe " irrcpressiljje conflict" he excited in the swarming mnllitude of his 
hearers, must be regarded as the highest proof of his oratorical genius. The people have got beyond the 
common-place political A B C's which he inculcated with the emphasis of a discoverer." 

The criticism continues : 

" If the meeting had been composed of savages, entirely unacquainted with civil government, or of 
John Brown.-:, eager for an invasion of llarper'.s Ferry. Mr. Cor.wiN could noi have urged, in more expos- 
tulating terms, tlie duty of submission to constiuUed authority. Now, the orator does not mean any harm, 
but he ought to know that «mcA eashortatwns an as out of place in a EeptMioan meeting as would be a 



p!ea/or a prntective tariff. They are as insulting to the law-abiilinc;, conservative masses of the Xorth, 
as a reinonslraiice Hgainsl burijlary or street fights would be when addressed to a eongregation ot Qualcera. 
Truly the schoolmasler is abroad." 

lint ! lie s'iiils of piojjhetie wrath were not yet <li~cliargeil 'J lie liajiless orator was 
destineil 1.0 yet harsher measure ; ana however we may doubt of the contortions which 
i[is|iired the judgment, there, probably, can be notie of the contortions which it produced. 
The Pythoness proceed6 : 

'• We have observed also in Mr. Coi'.win's recent speeches graver faults than tliose of bad taste, to which 
we need but alhide. namfdy, t/ie 'ugrjiiig in of doctiineJi not recognized hy the RejnMiam creed, and 
exceedingly odiouH to a liuge. jinrtion of the party. While the Uepuhlicans are disposed to make all allow- 
ances for the eecentriciiies 01' men, who, like the BoHrbons, never learn or forget anything, they rather 
object to an orator's Using the Uepnblican platform f<ir the purpose ot chanting the praises of Millard 
I'illniore, or of inoculating the Keiiublicau organization with the exploded licrcsies of a deceased party." 

Leader, where now is tiiy bsiton ? Thy followers, where? The sad spectacle of an 
army without a (;hief, or a chief without soldiers, is equally to be deprecated and deplored; 
and when a largely triumphant party, advancing under banners to martial music, pro- 
claims its ap[)roaching triumph, would it not be well, sir, before entering upon the contest, 
that the parly ^iiould be assured of a leader, and the rampant leader be fortified by a 
part}-? I am no political tactician, sir; but to an unsophisticated mind, it must seem 
that otherwise there will be great danger of their common discomfiture, and of a com- 
)>lefe success of their adversaries. 

hir, I luay be permitted now, for a very fewjnomeuts, to advert to that which T con- 
ceive to be tiie grave and important question of this discussion. It is not what has 
occurred in the past, nor yet is" it referable to dangers in the future. It is a question 
which e.\ists in the present ; and to that question 1 would now recall the attention of 
gentlemen here t.<)-day ; and 1-ask them, in all fairness and sincerity, to give attention to 
iny statements; if wrong, impeach them; if right, admit them; and, above all, permit 
tliem I0 have their due force and elFect. I ask, Mr. Clerk, for the reading of the resolu- 
tion of lite gentleman from Missi^iri, [Mr. Cl.*uk.] 

While the Clerk was looking for the resolution, 

Mr. (iltoW said : We will take it in any shape you choose to put it. 

Mr. .lOllN COCIIRA.NK. Oii, no, my friend ; fdo not want it in any shape. I choose 
to have it in its true and real shape. 

Mr. STANTO^■. I ask the gentleman from iS'ew York if he will also have the Utica 
resolution read. [Lautrhter.] 

Mr. .lUlLN COCllUANE. If my friend desires information of those resolutions I shall 
be jilea-'^ed to a.ssist him. If he desires to aid me, I answer that I am sutheiently 
informed. lie refers to the meeting at Utica — I commend him to the meeting at Phillippi. 
[Laughter | 

The resolution offered by Mr. Clark, of Missouri, on the first day of the session, was 
read tis follows : 

Whereas certain members of this House, now in nomination for Speaker, did indorse and recommend 
the booU liereinuficr lueniioned, ^, • ■ <• .1 

/{evolved. That the doeiniies and sentiments of a certain book, called the "Impending Crisis ot the 
gouth— How to .Meet il." purporiing to have l>cen written by one llinlon U. Helper, are insurreetionarj- 
mid hostile to Ibe Uoinesf e p. ace and Irampiililv of the country, and that no member of this House who 
has iud.ir^ed aud recommended it, or the eom|)eud from it, is lit to be Speaker of this House. 

Mr. JOHN COCHRANE. Now, Mr. Clerk, the resolution which has been read is not, 
in my judgment, suHieienlly comprehensive in its terras; it is not sufficiently declaratory 
of tile effect of the work to which it alludes, not only upon the individual, but on the 
party of which he is a member. 'I start with the proposition that the doctrines of that 
book, are the doctrinfes, in fact, of the Republican party, and that if it 's unfit to charge 
with lite duties of the Speaker's chair any gentleman who has subscribed to those doc- 
trines, it is equally unfit and improper that the destinies of the country should be in- 
trusted to a j.arty'which jjiofesses the same princiiiles. ^'or is this a new proposition. 
Kot many weeifi'since, the whole countrv was startled with an insurrectionary movement 
upon the foil of Virginia, in the dand of the night the peace of a quiet Virginia hamlet 
was di>turbcd. Ji. was fearfully invaded ; its citizens were affVighted, and martial law was 
].ioclaiined. Though for the most part those who were directly instrumental 111 that act 
have paid the forfeit ol' their crime, though many of them have expiated their gudt upon 
the gallows, yet at the time the event occurred, and everywhere since, and today at the 
Xorih. JSoulh, East, aud West, is the inquiry still urged, what cause was there waich 
could possibly have influenced these meu to their rufiiau's work— Lo the perpetration of 
Mich ineoneei\ai.le horrors? At first it was charged upon the great leader of the Kepiib- 
licau party, Wili.i.vm IL Si;w.\r.i) ; that it was the true, proper, and logical eftect ot his 
speech pr<'.nounced at Rochester, October 2.5, 18.38. That the true effect of that speech 
may appear. I will read an extract from it: 

"Free lab..r and slave Iabor-the«e antagonistic systems are continually coming iiito close contact, and 
collision r->ulls. Miall 1 tell vou w hal this collision means? They who think il is accidental, unnecessary, 
the work of inleresied or li.milical agitators, and therefore ephemeral, mistake the case altogether. U is 
an irrepressible conflict between op|.osm(( and enduring fores, and it means that the Lnited f^UU^^mmX. 
and will, sooner or later, b.cn.e eilhe? eubrelj a slav.-hol.lmg nation, or en irely a tree- bor nat^^^^^^ 
iMih. r the coiion an.l fi< e ti.lds of SouUi Carolina and ihe sugar pla. taUons 0I Louisiana will ultimately 
be tilled bv free labor, and t'harleston and New Orleans become marls lor legiumate merchandize alone, 
w else lUerye fields and wheal lields «f Massuchuseils and iJew York must again be surrendered by then: 



farmers to elare culture and to the production of ilaTes, «nd Boston and New York become once more 
markets lor tradw iu tliu budies and souls ol" men." 

It must lie confessed that upou the careful reading of this extract from that speecli, 
tliere would seem to be some cause or reason for tlie conclusion at which many arrived, 
that the orator furnished tlie ineentire to those who engaged in the Harper's Ferry infa- 
my. But the friends of that gentlcaiau interposed tliis plea in his helialf, namely, that it 
was but a figure of rhetoric; that the collision alluded to, the irrepi-essible conflict as- 
Hertcd, was hut the harmless conflict of ideas, and tliat he should not be held i-esponsible 
for nulural yioience who had but counseled intellectual war. However indisposed gen- 
tlemen may have previously been to give to the great Senator the benetit of this ]ilea, 
for my jtart 1 am quite disposed to do it now. His friends may, for aught I shall object, 
securely insist upon their jieaceful construction of a declaration of war. 1 waive the argu- 
ment at this point, in view of tlie immeasurably more important evideuce now attained — 
evidence which teems to fix ujion V\'illiam U. Sewaku, and upon the v.iiole Re[)ublicaii 
party tlie responsibility of the murderous excesses of John Brown and liis associates in crime. 

it sliould be remembered that tlie invasion of Harper's Feriy occurred on the night of 
the loth of Octolier last. It was not until the 26th duy of the ensuing November that, 
through tiie columns of the JS'ew Yorlc Herald, were disclosed to the country the secret 
causes and tlie com[)Iicity therein of llepublican leaders. Then, for the first time, did the 
j>ublic learn that a secret poison had for four months been in iiidustiious cii'culatioii 
tlirough the vitals of the country; and then, for tlie lirst time, was it known that tlie 
circulators were the leaders, tiie counselors and advisers of the Pie[)ublicati party. The 
indisputable facts of the case may tlius be stated: A volume entitled "The Imjiending 
Crisis of the South — How to Meet- it," had been published'by one Hinton liowan Heljier. 
This book, having passed several editions, was at length sitbniitted to various llepublicau 
gentlemen, both in Congress and elsewhere, and by them was l)oth recommended and its 
«irculatioii provided for. I should here, howeyer, be permitted to premise that into what- 
ever course the argument may be forced by the defence interposed, the principal fact, 
above all others incontestably proved, is that the doctrines and principles of the Helper 
original volume of four hundred pages, are directly sanctioned and approved of by the 
llepublican party, and not merely the compendium of but two hundred pages. 

1 will now, sir, direct the attention of the House to a few paragrajihs from botli the 
book and compendium. I do not intend to detain the House longer than sufficient only 
to learn the nature of the volume, and to infer from its character tlie doctrines held by 
gentlemen upou the other side of the House. In one portion of the work, after having 
spoken of the mineral and other wealth of the South, this language is held : 

" But of what arnil is all this latent wealth ? Of what avail will it ever bo, so long as slavery is permit- 
ted to play the dog in the manger? To these queries thers can be but one reply: Slavery niu>it be tkrot- 
tltd ; the South, so ^reat and bo glorious by nauire, must be reclninied Irom her infamy and degradation ; 
our cities, fields, aB<i forests must be Kept intact fram the unsparing monster; the various and ample re- 
sources of our vast domain, eubterraneous as well as superficial, must bo developed, and made to contri- 
but« to our pleasures and to the necessities of the world." 

It is to be observed that the force, effect, and direction of this paragraph, are entirely 
towards violence — towards organized physical violence. Tliere is no oratorical trope, no 
figure of eloquence resorted to with which to impress more vividly the mind. That 
which in it is most sigiiiticaut is, that it counsels that by an act of violence directed to- 
wards the institution of slavery it must be throttled and" exterminated. 

I now proceed to another extract. At another page of the book this language is used : 
"The great revolutionary movenieut which was set on foot in Charlotte, Mecklenburg county, North 
Carolina, on Uie 'Jutli day of May, 1776, has not yet been terminated, nor will it be, until every slave in the 
Uniteil Stales is fre»'d from tlie tyranny of his master. Every vic'tim of the vile institution, whether white 
or blacl<, must be reinvested with the sacred rights and privileges of which he has been deprived by aa 
inhuman oligarchy. What our noble sires of thu lievolulion left unfinished it is our duty to complete." 

Here once more 1 pause, and ask those within reacli of my voice, what is the plain 
significance of this phraseology ? Does it contemplate jteaceable action, moral persuasion ; 
does it contemplate speech-making from the stump, or law enactments within deliberative 
assemblies? or rather, does it not refer to arms, to the murderous assault, the cruel inva 
eion, the stern defence and the ultimate success which crowned the war of our Revolution 
and blesses it to us? Sir, this language is addressed to sway the passions; and it is 
intended to provoke and inflame prejudice. It is clear, distinct, and unmistakable to the 
one point, that the institution of slavery, as sure as it exists, must be exterminated by 
the same physical power which cast off the yoke of Great Britain, and gave these colo- 
nies their freedom in the war of the Revolution. 

Again, sir, says this learned doctor: 

" Henceforth, sirs, we are demandants, not suppliants "We demand our rights— nothing more, nothing 
leso. Jt is for you to .ieeide whether we are to have justice peaeeubly or hy vio.enc*; for, whatever con- 
setjuenceii may follow, we are determined to have it one way or the other." 

The ftlternative then, is this, that unless the slaves be voluntarily manumitted, unless 
those in bondage are permitted to go free i-eaceably, violence will be applied to the 
solution of the problem ; and total emancipation is tlius to be tlie desired result of the 
action which is i»roposed by the gentlemen who indorse and respond to the doctrine of 
this infamous Helper book. 

Haying tf^ this extent disclosed to the IIqurc and to the country the nature of the 
ppiBlopabgre c^f^fained^ and the direction which is sought to be taken and which is 



pointed out by the counsels tlierein indicated, let lis see who they are ■n-ho give tlie sanc- 
tion of tiieir names and the countenance of tiieir judgments to it. The fact has heeu 
broiiglit 1<> the attention of the Honse, tliat the Hon. Willi.\m H. Sewahd, after having 
perused the entii-e work in whicli such doctrines are found, recorded tliese words: 

" I have read the ' Irnpendinir Crisis of the South' with deep attf-ntion. It seems lo be a work of great 
merit, rich, yet accurate, in biaiistieal information, and logical in analysis." 

Again follows a reconirnendation, to the same effect, from the Rev. Theodore Parker, 
Cassiits M. Clay, and Joshua It. Giddings of Ohio. As this latter gentleman is in full 
communion with tiie party which sits upon the other side of tlie Uouse, I will take the 
liberty to repeat his I'ccommendation for their edification and our information. He says: 

"It is a manual for the limes, calculated to meet the popular demand for information upon the great 
question of the age." 

Tlicn, sir. the New York Tribune — that paper wliieh incontestably is the advocate of 
tlie ddctrine entertained by my friends upon the other side, and which is the exponent at 
ail times of their ])roper principles, says: 

" P'orliinatc, inileed. are the non-slaveholding whites, that they have found such a spokesman; one who 
utters no ?tummeriug, hesiitalin';, nor uncertain sound, who possesses a perfect mastery of his mother 
tongui-. who speaks as well Ir.ni a long .study and full knowledge of his sul>iect as from profound con- 
victions, and in whose vocabulary the words fear and doubl seem to have no place.'' 

And then the l->enintr Post says: 

"The fuillior has collected in a volume of some four hundred pages, the most compact and irresistable 
array of lads and arguments, lo prove the impolicy of slavery that we have encountered." 

The (.Miio Jeffersonian Democrat also says : 

" II is the greatest anti-slavery work ever issued from an American press." 

Now, sir, 1 will put it to gentlemen in every part of this House to say whether every 
word, line.'and sentence contained in this work — 1 refer not now ti> the compendium, to 
which 1 will soon pav my attention, and endeavor to enforce the distinction which holds 
between it and the ).Vinc'ipal work— whether every sentence and principle of this lurid 
and glowing Helper book, is not clearly and specifically indorsed by the gentleman whose 
language I have cited ? If that be so, 'let us advance one step further in our scrutinizing 
examination, and learn by what means it is that the work of emancipation is sought to 
be consummated. At another page occurs this language: 

" Were we simply a Free-Soiler, or luivthing else less than a thorough and uncompromising Abolitionist, 
we should ccrtainlv lax our abilitv to the utmost to get up a cogent argument against the extension of 
elaverv over any part of our domiiin wliert it does not now exist ; but as our principles are hostile to the 
institution uv.ii where it dois exist, and, therefore, by implication and m lael, more hostile soil to Us 
intr(Hlucti(jn into new territory, we forbear the preparation of any special remarks on this particular 

"""With regard fo the unnalional and demoralizing system of slavery, we believe the majority of northern 
people ure too scrui.ulous. Tliev seem to think that it is euoiigh for them lo be mere Frec-Soilers, to keep 
in cheek the dilTusive element of slavery, and to prevent it from crossing over the bounds within which it 
Is now regulated by municipal law. IJemiss in their mitioiuU duties, as we contend, they make no positive 
attack uiHin he Insiitulion in the southern Suites " * *,,*,.* tt-.u . ' *n 

" 1-reeinen ol Ihc North ! wp earnestlv entreat you to think of these things. Hitherto, as mere Free- 
Poiler-, you have approached but half-wav to the line i.f your duly ; now, for your own sakes and for ours 
and lor the purpose of perpetuating this great Hepublic, which your fathers and our fathers louudcdin 
sepicnnial streams of blood, we ask v<.u. in all seriousness, to organize yourselves aione man under the 
banner of liberty, and lo aid us in tJteiminutiiiy blavery, which is the only thing that militates against 
our coini)lete ageriindi/.enient as a nation. .,.„.. .u 

"In this extraordinary crisis of affairs, no man can be a true patriot without first becoming an Abo- 
litionisl." 

What, Mr. Clerk, is the meaning of the term "Abolitionist?" We are left in no doubt, 
for the author of the work records the detiiiition, and that definition is not only obligatory 
on his coiiipuragt.irs, but a|>iiroved by them. He says: 

" An.l here, perhaps, we may be pardoned for the digression necessary to show the exact definition of 

" Abolish r. t. To make void ; to annul ; to abrogate ; applied chiefly and appropriately to established 
laws, contraels, rites, customs, and institutions ; as to abolish laws by a repeal, actual or virtual. 7o clM- 
troi/ or put iin eiiil to : as to iiholiMh Ulul». , ,. , j ,,• .. _ j».. ..•^„ . 

"Abolition, n. ThJ act of abolishing ; or the state of being abolished ; aii annulling ; u er d estruct on; 
as the abolition of laws, <lecrees, ordinances, rites, customs, etc. 'J7ie putting an end to Uaiert/ , Mian- 

*^' ""Abolitionist, n. A person vho fawrs abolition, or the immediate emancipation of davery." 

Now sir could 1 here arise to my feet and propound, in more nervous and compact 
language, the i)rinciple that is to guide and govern the great Kepublicau party to its fu- 
ture, than is used here? It no longer consists with patriotism to relinquish slavery to 
tiie custody of the Slates wWere it exists. It must be " throttled." The freemen of the 
Korth miis't no longer, as FreeSoilers, seek to restrain slavery within its existing limits; 
thev must direct their eCTorts against it where it exists; they must abolish it at once, by 
vioience, and forever. This is abolition. Ho who practices it is an Abolionist; and the 
party that accepts the doctrines is au Abolition party. i. . •, . i 

I have nlready shown to you under whose authority this work was distributed among 
the people of the land. I will now proceed further with the attempts to prove that it is 
upon the responsibilitv also of gentlemen on the other side of the House that this book 
has received circulation in the North, and in various regions of the South. 

On the 9th day of March. 1859, there was a circular drawn up, which contained this 
siguiticant opiniuu : 



" Dr.AP. Sik:— Ifvoii have roiul and criliciilly examined the work, you will probiibly agree with us that 
no conr^iiiif ari;-ytnent so sucoe.ssliillv cniiiruvcrtMijc lhi> i>rHCtiee of slavery in t e Lliuied Stales and en- 
lorclii^ a |ir<-ei<'e and adeqaate view"of its iiriislraiin;: elleels. niaierial and moral, has equaled that of the 
volnnu- eiuitled 'The Impending Crisis of the Soulh : lluw to Meel it,' by llialon Kowau ilelper, of 
Aijrili Carolina. 

'• No oiher volume now before Ihe pul^lic, as we conceive, is, iu all respects, so well caleulaled to induce 
in the niinils of its readers a decided ami persistent repiisinaace to slavery ami a willingness to co-operute 
ill llie elloi-l 10 restrain tlie shameless uilvances and hurtlid influences of that pernicious institution " 

'Cliis opinion was indorsed by gentlenieti who are Representatives npoii this floor of 
coiistitneiicies in the Norlh, in this hingnatre: 

\\i\ the undersigned, members of the House of Itepresentatives of the national Congress, do cordially 
eiului-ne tlieojHiiion, and approve the eiUerprisa set lonh in the fore{;oiug circular: 

fjehuvler Colfax, I. Washburn, jr. J. F. FaruswortU, John ^'. Wood, 

Ansou IJiirliuiiaiue, J. A. Uiuuham, C. L N;ipf>. •''-•^"i ^'^- I'arUer, 

Owen Lovejoy, William Kello^^, It. E F nion, i«lephen C Foster, 

Amos I'. Cranijer, V.. B. Waslibiirne, rhilemon iiliss, Charles J. Gilmau, 

JCilwin B. Moiffan, Benjamin iStantou, Mason W. Tappan, Charles B. Hoard, 

Galu.-lia A. Crow, Fdward Uodd, Charles Case, John Thompson, 

Joshua i:. tiiddings, c;ydnor B. Tompkins, T. Davis, (Lovva.) .1. W. Sherman, 

Kdward Wade, .lolin ,Covo<le, James I'lke. William D. Jirayton, 

Calvin C. ClialVe, Cad. (J. Washburn, Homer Ji. lioyce, , lames BulSnton, 

William i!. Kelsi^y, Samuel (i. Andrews, Isaiah IJ. Clawson, O. B. JNlalleson, 

William .\ Howard, Abraham H Oliu, A. S. Murray, Bichard Molt. 

Henry SValdroi), Sidney Dean. Bobert B. Hall, George K. Bobbins, 

John Sherman, Nathaniel B. Diirfee, Valentine B. Horton, Kzekial V. Walton, 

George \V. Palmer, ]Mnory B. Bottle, Freeman H. Morse, James Wilson, 

Daniel W. Gooeli, DeWilt C. I each, David Kilgore, S. A. Burviance, 

Henry L. Dawes, John y'. Poller, William Stewart, Francis E Spinner, 

Justin S. Morrill, T. Davis, (Mass.) Samuel It Ciirlis, Silas M. Burroughs. 

Here we have an indorsetaent of the aecnvacv and beiietieial efl'eet of the principal work 
it'^elf. xViiother j^aragraph remarks upon the ciderprise, to which the sixty-eight members 
of the iiaiioiia! Congress i'efer. It is as follows: 

"Tiie extensive circulation of a copinun compend of the work in question amonj the intelligent, liberty- 
loving voters of llie country, irrespective of jiariy or locality, would, we believe, be productive of most 
benefleial results; and to this end we trust you will assist us in carrying out a plan we have devised for 
the gratuitous distributiim of one hundred thousand copies of sucdi a compend, which, if contracted for 
and jjublished, will contain about two hundred pages, and be bound in pamphlet form." 

Now, a coiiipeiid iuis but cue siguificanee. In tlie language of the lexicographer, it is 
an abiidgrnent, a summary, an epitome, the principal iieads or general principles of a 
hirge work or system. If tiie priiicij)!e features of the work had been effaced from the 
cotnpeud, the opinions advanced in this circular would not have been sustained in fact. 
The truLh is, that the coiupeiid represents the intended action of these geutlemen, and 
1he3'aie as deeply rcspunsihle for it, as the compend was recommended tube copious. 
'riiere liave been various defenses interposed. Among these defenses, is the one that they 
who signed the paper were ignorant of the contents of the compendium. 

A letter has been produced to the House to sustain this position, and from which I will 
read. It is tise letter of Mr. V. P. Blair, of .Silver S]>ring. He says: 

WASniNCTON City, D^cemhe.r 6, IS.59. 

" Pr.Ar. Sir: I perceive that a debate has arisen in Congress in which Mr. Help<r's book Ihe 'impend- 
ing Crisis,' is brought up as an e.xjmnent Itepublican principles As tlie names of many lea<ling Bepubli- 
eaus are presented as recon)mending a cotiipemiium of the volunu-, it is iiroj)er lli.il 1 siiould explain how 
lliose names were obtained in advance of the ])ublication. Mr. Helper bnmght his book to me at Silver 
Spring to examine and recommend, if I thought well of it, as a work to beeiicouraged by Kepublicans I 
had m ver seen it before. Alter its perusal. 1 either wrote ro Mr. Helper, or told him, that it was objec- 
tionable iu many particulars, to which I adverted ; and he promised me. in writing, that . e would obviate 
the obeetions l)y omitting entirely or altering the matter objected to. 

" 1 understand that it was in consequence of his assurance to me that the obnoxious matter in the origi- 
nal publication would be expurgated, that members of Congress and other influential men among the 
itepublicans were induced to give their countenance to the circulation of the edition so to be expurgated." 

Now, it retnains for me to show that, in the absence of specifications by Mr. Blair, it is 
highly probable that the objectionable matter referred to by hiiTi was expurguted. In 
order to show this, I bring here to the attention of the Ilouse^and of tlie country the fact 
that l.here was still more olyectionable and offei:sive mailer contained in Helpers princi- 
]>,il work than any cited from the compendium. Among such matter is the following, 
!,nd, until il, be otherwise proved, we are to infer ihatthese objectionable particulars 
which do not appear in the compend were those which were brougfit to Helper's atten- 
tion by Mr. Blair, and which, in truth, were subsequently expunged from the compend 
by Mr. Helper, according tt) his promise to Mr. Blair: 

" So it seems that the total number of actual slaveowners, ineludiiiij Iheir entire crew of cringing lick- 
spittles, against whom we have to contend, is but three hundred anu'forlv-seveu thousand Hve hundred 
imd twenty-live. Against this army for the defense and propaeati(m ol'slavery, we think it will be an 
easy matter, independent of the negroes— w ho. in nine cases out often, would be delighted with an oppor- 
tunity to cttt their moKter'n Wi(•o«<^— and without acce))ting of a single recruit from either of the free 
States, Kiiglaiid, France, or Germany, to muster one at least three times as large and far more respectable, 
lor Us niter exlmeiion. We are determined to abolish shiverv at till hazards; in defiance of all the oppo- 
silioii. ol whatever nature, which it is possible for Ihe slaveocrals to bring against us. Of this they may 
lake due notice, and govern themselves accordingly." 

Among other phrases that occur throughout tlie pages of the principal work, and 
which (lo not appear in this comiiendium. and which, therefore, it is fair to presume fell 
under the process of excision are the following, which I will now read: 

" Slaveholders are a nuisance." 

" It is gur imperative business to abate nuisances. " 



" We propose to exterminate this catalogue from beeiBning to end." 

'• We Lielieve that thif.ves are. as a general rule, lis? ameiinJjle lo the moral law than slaveholders." 

"Slaveholders are more criminal than common nmrdenrs." 

" sjlaveboldrr."* and slave traders art', as a general lliitijr, unfit to occupy any honorable station in life." 

" It U our honest conviction that all pro-.slavery slaveholders, who are alone responsible (or the contin- 
uance of the baneful in.siitiUion anions us. ileserves to l>(i at onon redticed to a jiuroUelu'ith the hasest 
cHmiiuiU tkiit lie fettered witldn the ceUx iif our puldic j'lixonH.'''' 

" Were It possible that the whole number could be iialhered lOf;;elher and transferred inio four equal 
gangs of licensed KoiJbKits, Eufpia.vs, 'Ihieves, and Muudeueks, society, we feel assured, would suuer 
less from their atrocities than it does now." 

It is, therefore, fairly to l)e inferred that i.ho<e v.-ere the exceptionable parjtgraphs that 
were referred to by Mr. IJIair; mid as they do not appear in the compendiura, it is an 
equally clear and satisfaeiory ar2!iriieiit tliat Mr. Helper's promise to Mr. Blair was ob- 
served, and that those who .-igned the eiieular wii.h the understanding that the objectiona- 
ble passages were lo be omitteii, are to be held to strict accountability for the passages which 
I have read from the coiupend. But, sir, I contend that even were this othei-wise, in 
truth no benefit can be derived from the yiosition of these defendants. I have already 
shown, by the language wfiich these gentiemeu ado])ted, their recommendation and sanc- 
tion wera not of the compend ; but of the opinions and doctrines contained in the 
original book ; and tliat thev advised that a coyiious compend of its principles and its 
leading features should be made and distributed throughout the land. AVhat more? 'Ibe 
work is designate<l " The jiij;>ending Crisis of the .South — How to Meet it." Apparently 
it ha.s thegood of the countr}' stamped upon its title page, and those who open it forthefirst 
time must do so with the impression tliat they will find in it a summary process for the 
relief of every evil and for the restoration of peace and prosperity to the country. But 
there are others, sir, who have entertained opposite views. They are men who stand in 
authoritative positions and who occupy jilaces of trust. 

Anion:; the names of tho^e entertaining such opposite views are the following, which 
I will now recite lo the Honsie : Horace Greeley. -las. Kelley, (Chairman, State Central 
Con)rnittee of New York,) .lohu A. Kennedy, (Chairman Uepubiican General Conmnttee 
of New York city,) John .lay, Thurlow Weed, Abram U'akeman, Win. Henry Anthon, 
Wrc. C. Bryant. And their views arc forcibly expressed in this extract from their ciicu- 
l.ir, which accompanied that indorsed by the sixty-eight Republicans of the national 
Congress : 

" And it is very desirable that a cheap compend of its contents, fltted for grratiiitous circulation, be now 
made and generally diffused in those Slates — Pennsylvwiia, New Jersey, Indiana, and Illinois — which are 
to decide the next presidential contest." 

It wa:< not then for the purpose of emancipating slaves peaceably, but it was for the 
avowed ftini confe8se<l purpose of carrving the next presidcTitial election that this i om- 
pend was made and atleinpted to be circulated. Gentlemen who use implements of tliis 
description are to be lield accountable for their al)u.-e. JSow, if I shall show you that 
these re rogni/.ed and nccejHed leaders of the Republican party have put i'orward these 
prineipljs, and demanded this cornjiendious process of action, in conneciion. with avowed 
Mini known Abolitionists — as Abolitioiii.-ts are defined in this book of Ilinton Tiowaii 
Helper — it seems to me t'lat there will have been a charge made and evidence adduced, 
which must be met upon this floor, or be accepted as true, that the Ilepublicau party 
have consented to the abolitionizing of their principles. 

On the loth day of June, only four months before the commencement of the movement 
on IIrtr|>er's Ferry, we h.-ive this announcement nunle: 

" III aid of the general fund for circulating; one hundred thousand copies of the work in h.^nd. subscrip- 
tions up to the I.'nh of .June, IN'/J, auUHint to about three thousand seven hundred doli;ir>, of which the 
fidlowiiis, aa will respectively ai)pettr, have been received in sums of Irom ten to two luuulred and filty 
dollars." 

Who, tlien, is accountable for the circulation of this work? Yv'^e have seen who in- 
dorsed its principles and doctrines. There can be no question of the foice and eftect of 
these, when circiilaled ; but who ar<! the authors of their eircuhition? Who furnished 
the means for distribttting the treason? Having ascertained these facts, I shall put it to 
pentlenien here whether they, the authors, are not to be held responsible for all the terri- 
ble and ghastly cOtisequenee's? The list of those who subscribed is in my hand. Amoi;g 
them are the following: Cassius M. Clay, Whitehall, Kentucky; Horace Greely, Hinton 
11. Helper, John Jay, Kdgar Ketchum, New York i;it\ ; Samuel May, Boston, Massachu- 
setts, (.\bolitioiii.st ;") IMwiii \>. Morgan, Albany, New York, (Governor;) Republicans of 
I'ottsville and North Coventry, Pennsylvania; Republicans of Crolon Point, New York; 
Repiiblieans of Shawnee .Mound, South Bend, Indiana; Gerritt Smith, Peterboro, New 
York, (.\bolil.ioiii.<t;) Marcus Spring, Eagleswood, New Jersey, (Abolitionist;) .J. S. T. 
Stranahan. Brooklyn, New York; Lewis Tappan, Brooklyn, New. York, (Abolitionist^ 
James S. Wadswoiih, Abram Wakeman, New Yoi'k city; Thurlow Weed, Albany, N. Y. 

These are a few. of the names of those who subscribed for the circulation of this work, 
and Ity whose tneaus it has been distributed. And when I indicate ; ere to the House that 
for the S:i,7U0 thus sabsciitjed, twenty-three thousand one hundred and twenty-five copies 
of the eonqiend, at sixteen cents the copy, have been |u-oduced, purchased and circulated 
throughout these Stales within four months of the m.-morable IHth of October, I think 
the countr, will be at, no loss iu its iuquiry for the cause of the insurrection, bloodshed, 
aod murder, at Harper's Ferry. 



8 



Now, sir, another defence has been interposed, and that defence soes more specifieallv 
to the benefit of the gentleman who is proposed on tlic other side as a candidate for tlie 
Speaker's chair. Jt conies in tlie shape of a letter from Mr. Edwin B. Morgan, of New 
York-, Wliich purports to exjdain the circumstances under which the name of the gentle- 
man who is the candidate was given to this circular. He says : 

,, „ „ , , Aurora, December 8, 1859. 

Mr Dr.An Piu : I linve, -n-illiin the last fcvr moments, observed in the New York papers your remarks in 
the IIous,- to t ,,. c-m-ot: •' That you hn.l no recollection or ever having si.rne<l the ricnnn.en. ution of iJ" 
per s book. 1 he aols are Ihese. an.l yen inay recollect them : I called at voiir seat, .lurins the session 
while y,m was mm-li enRriffod, and re<iuosted yonr 8i<;natiire. To.ir reply was, " That you had never see ,' 
the «-ork-knew nothinir of It. If you gave your name it would be to oblige mc, and en ?evuDo„ the 
coiitidenee you rrposed in me that it was all right." Very truly jours entirely upon the 

Ho.N. JoiLN- SuBuvAN. ' EDWIN B. MORGAN. 

I am not so skeptical, sir, as to deny to the gentleman, [Mr. Sherman ] and all the 
unfortunate gentlemen whose names appear as the indorsers of the Helper book the 
benefit, of tlieir plea of ignorance. Indeed, without relief to thetn, I may concede to 
tl)em lyrnoranee of their act and of its consequences. We are now, sir, at too'late a period 
of civilization to receive ignorance as a justification of crime, or to seriously aixnie that 
innocence ot felonious intent can ever restore the bereft life. 

Why, sir, with that concession of ignorance it seems to me that trentlemen are still 
Inirdened with the responsibility of the events which liave mauifesllv resulte.l from it 
\\ here have we ever heard that the grossest individual negligence, either of i.rinciivil „r 
ot agent, was atiy defence against the consequences of his act ? In what court of" law 
would sucli a plea be received, or for one instant entertained? Yet here the circum- 
stances warrant not even the defence which attaches to individuals. In their ofliciai cana- 
citj the bepreseiitatives ot the Republican party placed their names— without reflection 
If you please— to doctrines of an incendiary, ruinous, and destructive character The 
plea that they were luiaware of the nature of their act is no shield against the just indig- 
nation of those who have suffered by it. o J b 
Why Mr. Clerk do you m.t rciieJfc that these gentlemen signed that recommendation 
not in their respective individual capacities, but in their oflicial character ? Thev signed 
It as KepreseMtatives upon the floor of Congress, authorized to enact laws and to propound 
the principles and o take j^osKions for the government and direction of the parry of 
which they are members. I am afraid that it has not been considered that these gentlemen 
^vere the Representatives on this floor of over si.x million people of the North, and that 
ley were sent here by the positive substantive votes of those who represent more than 
three mi hon o those same people? These are truths which it behooves us to cins ,• 
lheJ enhance the heinousness of the offence, and increase its responsibility. In my opini 
on, tben is the Reptibliean party to be held, in strict truth and stern ihtegrity.-Ye oi^ 
the country responsible for these events, which are clearly traceable to their actJ to the 
peech of WiLUAM H. Sewap.l., at Rochester, and to thecircular to which the r ames 
were appended in recommendation of the Helper book 

..5''' r'""'.'; '^ ^"^ ""*; .'7 intention to have addressed the House at this length while 
mv ta^k"f m Jati'f^e^ ""' 't '"", ' "" ^'f^^^^'^'i *« enforce. But having accLplTs ed 
mj task, 1 am satisfied as with a duty performed. I have shown that the responsibility 
o rmnotis doctrines, and their consequent results, belongs to the Republican aiaS 
e'on^tnr'idrofTrir """m' '°''"'" '''' i-!>oitance which 'they de.4rve?' We 

Slemrrt heTou h i;;*:-"^"V^ everywhere, from whatever qu'arter it may proceed. 

^<F,«f \\r\ i- ,,,•'' J: ^ repioDate tiie occurrences which nrecn) tate the 

cSve t^^ 'atZn^Jif^:, " ""'"•'"^' ^^l'^^^^ --^"'--^ 1>V the southetn Stile thy 

we w S ott" indy Imk ,"' ' *'>''" P'^^''-^- '^^''^^V ««" endure no hardship of ^vhicii 

one e.nial power protect, us all Sn7l' i ?i ^ ^H"" ^^""^^ "''^*'"'^ '*^'^ ^^"el<^« -ind 

the Democracy ot^le So tl? t. ' \ ^'''^ l'i"g"age of the Democracy of the North to 

tl o.e o Tom-, o' *no^^^^^ attached to our local customs, we will respect 

r dits eituvd Kn. e ^ n^' *'*■'' •""'^'" '"^'^'f'^ ^"<i "^'^i^es; and whenever your 

n.:r :;■„ s v^dsi 1 fl!: r';^ '''' ^I'-eatened oi- in'vaded, ten thousand 

to occupy, to cultivate and enioy Th Tin boundless continent is ours, which 

ex^.tnsiU or duration JnS^annr T'l P''f "■'''^' '^''''^ ^^•'"^'•^ '^^^ Hmit-either of 
dissolved. Wi i he h^f s " h„n , ' f'^ \ • ^^^y "'"■ 'y'' °"*^'' ^""'^ "P°" the Unio« 

that this rnighti::; oi- i:pVbHV'siai;rc\i„\':nrf:;L ^ ^'^'^"' '^-^ ^'^'^ '^^^^y ^^^ 

Printed by Lemuel Towers. 






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